almost show time

Well people, I've got a week and a day before i travel down to Lexington. It will be around a 10 hour drive with charlotte and our dog spottie. I'm still working on getting my installation to a point where i can just walk in and start setting up. I'm still building some things and doing a lot of painting and so forth. Its gonna be a long week.

new work

So the stuff i just posted are parts to an installation that i will be doing at the Lexington Art League in march. Along with a video that includes the one posted at the bottom of my blog. I've been thinking a lot lately about how much music has influence pretty much everything i do. For quite a while, I've been trying to mix art and music together. I feel that this is the next step in the merger. I want this installation to be part of a slight "rock concert". Some of my most memorable experiences have been witnessing my favorite bands in person, therefore, I want to allude to this feeling without trying to make this experience for the viewer a nerdy one. So far the installation consists of a mixing board connected to multiple speakers across the room by brightly colored chords that sore through the air like lasers. The speakers will be playing the audio from the video which is a set of songs that i listen to on my Ipod while playing air guitar to. Being inspired by a documentary on the world air guitar championships a quote stuck out saying, "Air guitar is the last pure form of performance art." Not really being a big fan of performance, this quote and movie unleashed an inspiration and slight infatuation of this "art form". I don't know if it truly is an art form but I do love the commitment and self expression of these air guitarists. On a stage that is virtually empty except for their stage antics, their power and presence are very mesmerizing. Me being a musician, I do find myself unconsciously playing air guitar in various situation. It was only natural to express my own love for music and pay homage to those i admire.

Stuff I'm working on

this stuff will be part of my upcoming show in Lexington KY.

Blogglect

sorry everyone who checks this for not posting.  I've been alittle busy with working on art, music, and some friends were in town.  Nanda and Buck Soderberg came around last weekend. The had a booth at the Philadelphia's buyers market of Crafts or something of the sorts.  They gave Charlotte and I free passes and let me tell you, Whooa, there were some steaming piles everywhere.  Honestly it looked like some of these, "artists"  took one class in what ever and decided, thats enough, i've learned plenty.  Now lets start a business.  Also, if you blow glass out there, quit making big wads of glass with swirly colors that end up clashing and turning into a baby poop brown, its just tacky.   Wood people, just because you got a piece of expensive, figured, exotic wood from woodcraft, doesn't mean you  have to make everything out of it.  Also, go get some design lessons, I know you enjoy the material but common, either take it serious or keep it in the garage.  Clay, geeze, i have no idea where to even begin, uhh, stop making mounds and adding a spout and calling it tea pot.  I would add something for the other medias but, i don't know if there's hope.  

Wow, this wasn't going to be this long originally.  I could go into depth about all of these but I already sound angry enough. ha. (which i'm not, sorry out there)

One of my new videos

I put one of my new video performance at the bottom of the page.  Take a look and tell me what you think. 

josh 

magic trash

Being an artist can be a strange life at times.  I ketch myself thinking really odd thoughts at any given time about any subject.  These thought are quick and become forgotten as fast at they conspired.  I constantly wonder what to make, what to make "it" out of, and how to make it.  Some times these simple thoughts make no sense informing my brain that it is or could be close to insanity.  These thoughts are over baring, and cause a block in productivity which as a maker, becomes a dark depressing crawl through the gutters of self pity. 

Fortunately, last night charlotte and I went to an lecture given by the extremely famous, Kiki Smith.  Most of her sculptures and prints (i say most because everyone who makes art has had some real steaming piles here and there), are amazing.  For me, the most influential part of her whole talk was her insane ideas and the motives that drove the work, which reassured my crazy is okay.  As she talked in front of a full house, on a huge stage, at a podium with a mic, and her work 15 ft. tall behind her,  there was no sense of arrogance.  It was as if she cared the slightest bit about the work.  Of coarse this is not true, but she was so comfortable and confident that the occasional shit or fuck just slipped right out with no hesitation.  Not saying that cussing is wrong, but its very unexpected in a huge forum full of professional and scholars with 8 inch ear hair growing from the deep crevasses of their sound collection holes.  

Besides the cramped seating (being 6'3 can be tough at times),  I walked away inspired.  Still with the same questions in my head but more at ease about why I have them.  I used them as fuel for the first time since moving to Philly.  I collected some broken black glass today that I admired while walking to the beer store on an earlier escapade.  It sat there talking to me explaining it's beauty, so I listened and took it to its new home, my basement/studio.  

I guess what I'm getting at is my rediscovery of the mundane objects. It has always been influential in some regard.  Art for me is the observation of everyday life.  It projects observations into a medium and reintroduces it to the world.  It can be a magical thing at times and it can also be an abomination.  I'm just glad that I still have the attention to notice the small details that become art.  I was scared that I was losing my inspiration and ambition and the  fact that a pile of glass saved me is honestly a ridiculous notion but awesome.    I hope that as long as I'm living, I will remember to observe these simplistic ideas and allow them to capture a magical moment.  

get ready for a rant....

I'm trying to figure out why my neighbor felt compelled to give me a "fyi" visit this evening. He informed me that my dog was outside and whinning all day long. My response was, "ummm, thats impossible because i have been home since around noon" He goes on to make a whole lot of no kind of since like how he has a cat, he's an animal lover but not nessecarily a activist, and other jibberish that was hard to understand.
First off, i thought maybe his cat was going crazy because of our dog. Nope, i'm not so sure why this little tid bit came into the conversation but I guess it was to bring up the point that he loves animals. Which brings me to the question of why this guy is justifying his reasoning for loving and having an animal to me. Can you only love animals while automatically being an activist, or do you have to hate animals and love to hate them and everything they stand for. No, this guy felt compelled to tell me about his cat. I don't care about his feeling for this cat. I'm glad he has a cat because i'm sure he's talking to it, instead of crazying up our neighborhood.

He goes on about some things, and at this point i'm kind of rude because he's basically telling my that we are miss treating our dog. If any of you know spot out there, you know for a fact that she gets the best treatment ever. Honestly i think she eats better than I do. If you haven't seen her, she is a robust, thick, chunky, basically pretty fat medium height dog. (she use to weight 80 lbs, she's down to around 60 lbs now) Apparently she got stuck in our back yard under the deck. This sounds bad but there is a huge space under there that she loves to go down in and just hang. You know, the stuff that dogs do. he goes on to tell me that he went into our yard and wanted to lift the dog out, but he couldn't see her. Even if he wanted to, this frail man, who has a deathly glaze look over his face, seems as if he can't lift a sandwich to his own mouth.
I don't know what this guy was trying to say. Was he was trying to be helpful or telling us that we are horrible people, something about a cat and his ability to break into our yard. This place is insane. If you like toothless crazy people approaching you at any given moment, Please come and visit.